Blue comes back to take 2-1 lead in 10th annual Blue/Gold World Series

Cody Bentley

Monday, October 06, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 6, 2008) -After dropping the first game to the Gold squad, the Blue squad came back to win game two on Friday (3-2) and game three (13-11) on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead this past weekend at Cardinal Park.

In game two, Cody Bentley (Pound, Va.) was named the game MVP as he went five innings allowing two runs on six hit and struck out three. After Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) hit a lead-off triple to start the game, Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) singled to left driving in Scruggs to give the Blue team a 1-0 lead. The Blue squad scored two more in the inning on a Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) triple to center bringing in Mendez, and a grounder to first by Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) to make the score 3-0 Blue.

The Gold team got on the board in the top of the second as Jacob Fabry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) doubled to center driving in Chris Rankhorn (Gallatin, Tenn.) to cut the lead to 3-1. In the top of the fourth, Nick Belcher (Abingdon, Va.) added another run for the Gold team as he doubled to center driving in Fabry, but it wouldn't be enough as Dustin Plumlee (Powell, Tenn.) came in and shut the door throwing two scoreless innings for the Blue to make the final 3-2.

Game three turned out to be a slugfest as both teams combined to score 24 runs. In the top of the first, Trent singled in Scruggs to give the Blue squad a 1-0 lead. The Gold team answered in the bottom of the first as Rankhorn singled up the middle driving in Belcher to tie the game. Later in the inning, Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) singled to right driving in Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.), and a Trey Dunnigan (Boone, N.C.) doubled to right bringing in Rankhorn and Byrne to give the Gold team a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the second, the Blue team added another run as Garrett May (Marietta, Ga.) came in to score on a Cory Betterson (Lithonia, Ga.) grounder to third cutting the lead to 4-2.

The Blue retook the lead in the top of the third as Trent hit a towering two-run shot to tie the game, and May singled to right driving in Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) to make the score 5-4 Blue. In the bottom half, Fabry tied things up again as he singled in Dunnigan. The Gold team then scored two more as Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) singled to left bring in Fabry, and Belcher scored on a fielding error by Hoilman to give the Gold a 7-5 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Hoilman and May put the Blue squad out in front again, as Hoilman tied things up with a two-run blast, and May hit a three-run home run to make the score 10-7 Blue.

The lead was again short lived as the Gold squad even things up in the bottom of the fourth as Allen doubled to left driving in Byrne and Fabry, and Belcher double to left scoring Allen to tie the game at 10-10.

Neither team would score until the top of the eight when Reeder doubled in Hoilman and Trent to put the Blue team up 12-10. May added an insurance run later in the inning as he singled in Reeder to give the Blue team a 13-10 lead. In the bottom half, Petro singled to left driving in Fabry, but it was not enough as the Blue team held on to win 13-11.

May earned MVP honors in game three as he went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI, while scoring twice. Through three games Fabry leads the Gold team with eight hits, six runs and two RBI, while both Hoilman and May have five hits for the Blue team.

Game four of the series is scheduled for Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Cardinal Park. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball or any other Buccaneer athletic team.